Designed Physical Systems

Name: Designed Physical System

Abstract System: This system has been identified as an abstract system that cannot be implemented directly. The abstract system establishes a shared pattern of characteristics that any system can use to describe its unique characteristics when referenced in the 'based on' list above. These references are described using a generalization association in UML.

The Designed Physical System is one of the Top Level System Classes based upon Peter Checkland's classification system.

Every Designed Physical System is created and used by Organisms as members of Social Systems. This allows Ants (organisms) and Bees (organisms) to create designed physical systems for their community to use in a similar way to humans who used stones in the stone age and humans in the iron age to produce and use stones or iron objects in their living. The addition of Fire also improved the design and building of these designed physical systems.

The early designed physical systems (and still today for most organisms) rely heavily on Ecosystem Services.

As communities developed, the need for ways to manage the Ecosystem Services required more Designed Physical Systems for example, the viaduct to move water, the houses (e.g. nests, to provide shelter, Food to supply nutrition).

As humans developed more advanced design, and production systems for needed productivity improvements, the designed physical systems used in communities of organisms have evolved into Technology Systems that are designed, built and put in use by people (one or more Persons) as members of Human Activity Systems as the driver for improvement. These technology systems all require connections to Ecosystem Services.

See Technology System for additional information on the links to Human Activity System, People and Ecosystem Services.

Each Designed Physical System will have its own purpose as agreed by the members of a Social System responsible for the creation of a Designed Physical System. Some of these purposes may include:

To provide protection for ecosystem services and habitats (flood protection, etc.)
To improve productivity of organism's effort to make and use things.
To enhance the quality of life for the community of organisms.

Systemic Measurable Variables

The emergent properties created or used through the interaction of the elements. This includes both desired and undesired.

Expected life time (time to replace).
Events (Accident, breakage, etc)
Performance improvement

Systemic Capabilities or Functions

Each designed physical system will have unique capabilities and functions as agreed by the members of a social system. Some examples of these are:

Function / Capability Provided (carry water, move large objects from place a to b, prepare / provide food, provide shelter from the environment, ).

System States

The various defined states that the system-of-interest can be in.

Architectural states (imagined)
Transformational States (in development)
Operational States (in use)
Disposed of (back to ecosystem)

The organisms of a Social System such as:

The members of the social system who see a need for the Designed Physical System.
The members who make and build the Designed Physical System (with unique skills, knowledge and experience).
The users of the Designed Physical System
Those members who benefit from the Designed Physical System.

Each designed physical system will have their own unique environment as identified by the members of a Social System. Some of these consist of:

Interaction with the Natural Systems and their Ecosystem Services (use of resources, interface with natural systems)
Interaction with other animals (organisms) in the same or other communities.
Interface with other Designed Physical System.

Each designed physical system will be a system-of-interest for a Social System. The structure of the system-of-interest will typically be a simple System Breakdown Structure. Typically these Designed Physical Systems help manage the ecosystem services available to the organisms in communities within an Ecosystem. These are often early versions of the Identification: Human Activity Infrastructure Services

Transportation Systems.
Energy Systems
Food production systems.
Built environment (homes, office buildings, sport facilities, etc)
Communication Systems.

Configuration / Scenario:

Describes any configuration / scenario attributes for a specific system-of-interest. This may not be appropriate for all system descriptions (e.g. patterns or abstract systems).

Cyclical (Repeating / Regular) Processes

There are a number of types of regular / repeating processes in designed physical systems. These will be unique to the system-of-interest and may be in the areas of:

Operations (regular operations).
maintenance / repair / event handling

Development Life Cycle Processes

Each Designed Physical System will have a unique life cycle. Some characteristics are:

As skills, knowledge and experience of the members of the social system improved, this caused improvements in the design, build and use of the designed physical systems. These life cycle processes incorporated many of the new learning of the organisms.
Adaptation of the life cycle processes based upon availability ot other ecosystem services or materials discovered over time.

Technology Systems have evolved from this set of processes as the people improved their skills, knowledge and experience and developed technology to assist with this endeavor.

The following references support this type of system-of-interest.